Norco, Calif. ? Tucked in a region of galloping suburban growth is a Southern California town where the sidewalks are horse trails and there’s a ride-through McDonald’s.

Norco is self-proclaimed Horsetown USA, population 27,000, plus as many as 20,000 horses.

Yet for all its Wild West trappings, Norco is struggling to preserve its equine identity and make sure its new slogan – “City living in a rural atmosphere” – doesn’t become a hollow promise.

The town is under tremendous development pressure along with the rest of one of the nation’s fastest-growing areas, Riverside County, east of Los Angeles.

Mansions have been going up on the hills nearby, and some Norco residents fear that people who want country living but don’t like horses are going to move in, subdivide their lots and pave over the trails and grass.

To try to head them off at the pass, Norco adopted a requirement earlier this year that all new commercial development have a Western theme which, according to a manual issued by the city, can include the use of railroad ties, shutters and wooden walkways.

Also, over the past few years, the city has barred residents from subdividing their property and paving over trails and corrals by installing swimming pools, fire pits or extended driveways. Every home development must now reserve some land for animal keeping, even if the homeowners do not have horses.

“People can call us cowboys and hicks and we don’t care,” said former Mayor Kathy Azevedo. “We don’t want to lose it. We don’t want to become Orange County.”

In yet another rule adopted to help preserve Norco’s Horsetown USA image, animal-related matters need a supermajority vote in the City Council chambers, where cowboy hats and boots are the norm.

Kathy Azevedo, left, and Karen Pawly ride past a fire house in Norco, Calif., in a Dec. 12 file photo. Norco, a city of 27,000 people and 2,000 horses is doing all it can to hold on to its equestrian identity. This includes requiring that all new development have a western-theme.

Soon the city’s main street will be illuminated by lanterns with the silhouette of a horsehead. And Norco hopes to win trademark approval of “Horsetown USA” any day now.

“Norco is completely surrounded by a lot of development,” said City Manager Jeff Allred, “and that’s what’s fueling the desire to trademark the city and to ensure that people know that this is a different place.”

Norco, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles’ skyscrapers, is certainly different.

A few miles before visitors reach Norco, they can catch a whiff of horse manure. Restaurants and other watering holes, such as the Saddle Sore Saloon, have horse troughs and corrals. Drivers face $135 tickets for blocking the city’s 120 miles of trails. A few feet above a pedestrian crosswalk button is another button for those on horseback.

Even those who do not own horses are also expected to support the lifestyle. City Council members recently discussed including a horse manure rake as part of the welcome wagon to new residents. Around here, rumors that a political candidate is not animal-friendly are said to be enough to kill a campaign.

Berwin Hanna, who helped create the Norco Horseman’s Association, the city’s most powerful lobbying group, recalled one such candidate. “His platform was sidewalks and street signs,” Hanna said in a deep Texas drawl. “He didn’t get elected.”

Riverside County was the nation’s second-fastest growing county in 2005. Its population has tripled since 1980 to more than 1.9 million, and it is projected to reach 2.7 million by 2020. That troubles some residents, who have seen what happens elsewhere in Southern California when ranches and fields get supplanted by new houses and office parks.

“People who didn’t own horses moved in and bit by bit there was pressure and horse owners were pushed out,” said Debbie Smith, who manages an online community of horse owners and their businesses.